The ‘happy ever after’ we crave
THAT famous photo of Charles and Camilla at a polo match in Cirencester Park dates from 1975.
By then Camilla was married to cavalry officer Andrew Parker Bowles and Charles was said to be broken-hearted. Call me a soppy old romantic but you can already see in that photo the bitter-sweet emotions, the regret and the longing.the space between the pair is an eternity of pain.
And with the gift of hindsight we remember the extraordinary events that unfolded after that photo was taken. Events that have appalled and fascinated the British public in equal measure and shaken the Royal Family.
Today Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, celebrates her 75th birthday. She is, with the Queen’s blessing, to be Queen Consort when Charles is King. Not many people wake up on their 75th birthday with the prospect of such a huge transformation to come.
Yet there is no doubt that she will adapt to the role with her usual quiet good humour.
For years Mrs Parker Bowles lived in the comfortable obscurity enjoyed by Britain’s upper class – horses, country life, head scarves.
As her affair with the Prince of Wales became public knowledge she became an object of scandal and disapproval.
For years nobody imagined that their relationship would ever be acknowledged, let alone that they would marry.
But hey ho, they’ve now been married for 17 years. And without fuss or fanfare Camilla has eased in to the nation’s heart.
It can’t have been easy. Mark Bolland, a former Clarence House adviser, once wrote: “I love Camilla dearly but she is monumentally lazy (in the nicest possible way).
“A member of her family once described her to me as the ‘laziest woman to have been born in England in the 20th century’. “That’s not going to change.
“She has never worked in her life and is terrified of being on public display”.
But that has changed. And how. Camilla has championed some 90 causes and charities, mostly focusing on domestic abuse, health, the elderly, literacy and the arts. Says Rachelwilliams, founder of Stand Up to Domestic Abuse: “She really connects with victims and really has a passion to help.”
I like her online book club, the Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room, which also has its own children’s section.you can imagine having a chat with her about a book you’re enjoying in the same way you do with friends. She has the easy confidence of someone with no hang-ups about her status.
After all her beloved brother Mark Shand, who died in a fluke accident in 2014, was variously described as a conservationist, adventurer, author and “semiretired playboy”.these are people who live life to the full.
One of the reasons I like Camilla is that she’s the happy ever after story we all crave. In the end she got the man she loved. I’m pleased for her. Happy birthday Camilla.